Certain medical procedures, such as breast biopsies, must be done with the patient in a face down prone position. There are also imaging and scanning procedures that are done in a prone position.
Research has shown that a large proportion of breast tumors are found in the axilla region. For this reason, many new designs of tables for medical procedures on breasts, whether these procedures be imaging of the breast or breast biopsies, have specially shaped cavities to receive the breast and the surrounding axilla region.
However, an important factor to the volume of tissue accessible to medical equipment below a table is the position of the arm of the patient. The position of the arm has an influence on the position of the breast and axilla in the cavity. It also has an impact on the comfort level experienced by the patient, who must remain in a substantially immobile position for an extensive period of time.
Moreover, since positioning of the patient on the table is of great importance to the success of the medical procedure on the breast, there is a need to improve the current designs of the tables in order to obtain the best results possible.